Breaking the Ice - The Economics of Hockey

This book provides a survey of the academic research and knowledge on the economics and management of professional hockey. While professional football, baseball, and basketball have been the focus of sports economists for decades, professional hockey has been left out of most economic analyses of the sports industry. This book fills that gap by presenting a selection of research focusing specifically on hockey, such as labor relations and player behavior in the NHL, salary determination and player careers, ticket demand and ticket pricing, and emerging topics such as diversity and discrimination. Expanding the available literature dramatically, this book will be an important tool for researchers as well as sports managers, and students at the advanced undergraduate and graduate level.


Bernd Frick is Professor of Organisational and Media Economics, University of Paderborn & Director, Volkswagen's Institute of Labour & Personnel Economics at Mobile Life Campus, Wolfsburg.
Since 2007 he has hold the Chair of Organizational and Media Economics at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at University of Paderborn.

He was a Research Associate at the Institute for Industrial Law und Relations in the European Community at University of Trier in 2003 - 2007.

Professor Bernd Frick was the head of the Institute for Strategic Management and Business Policy in University of Witten/Herdecke from 2004 - 2007. He was also the Chairholder of the Reinhard-Mohn-Chair for Administration, Economic Ethics and Society Shift at the business faculty at University of Witten/Herdecke in  2001-2007

Representative and chairman of the Chair for Business Administration, especially Organizational and Media Economics, at the school of law and political science faculty at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald 1995-2001

He was a research associate for business economics, area of studies and research 'Services Administration & Management' at University of Trier in 1991-1995.

At the University of Trier  in 1986-91, he was a research associate in the project 'Betriebliche Personalpolitik und Schwerbehindertenbeschäftigung' ('Company manpower policies and severly handicapped employment') - 'Zentrum für Arbeit und Soziales' ('Labour and social affairs centre').

He was research associate in the project 'A Comparative Study of the Involvement of Third Parties in the Resolution of Industrial Disputes in West Germany and the United Kingdom' - at the Loughborough University of Technology, Great Britain in 1984-86.

Bernd Frick was a certified research associate in the project 'Sozialhilfedichte' ('welfare-density') of the department IV, Statistics at University of Trier in 1983-84.